Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday granted Enforcement Directorate (ED) the custody of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha until March 23 in the money laundering case linked to the now-defunct Delhi excise policy.
The agency presented Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, before Special Judge for ED cases M K Nagpal, and requested her custody for 10 days.
During her court appearance, Kavitha denounced her arrest as illegal, asserting, “We will fight it (the case) out in court.”
Kavitha, aged 46 and a member of the Telangana Legislative Council, was apprehended by the central probe agency from her residence in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, on Friday evening.
In the courtroom, senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari, representing Kavitha alongside advocate Nitesh Rana, informed the judge that her arrest was “illegal.”
The legal team also accused the federal anti-money laundering agency of disregarding the Supreme Court’s directive during the arrest. They contended that the apex court had instructed the ED not to take any coercive action against Kavitha until it hears her plea against the summons issued by the agency on March 19.
“It is a black day when SC orders are violated, and an officer believes he/she is above the law,” the counsel reiterated to the court.
Contrarily, the ED stated that it had not made any declaration before any court, including the Supreme Court, that no coercive action would be taken against K Kavitha.
“There is sufficient evidence and witness statements against K Kavitha in the case,” the ED asserted before the court.
The agency also accused Kavitha of tampering with evidence in the case.
“We have summoned several witnesses to confront K Kavitha,” the agency informed the court.
